Member Sign In

You are being directed to ZacksTrade, a division of LBMZ Securities and licensed broker-dealer. ZacksTrade and Zacks.com are separate but affiliated companies. The web link between the two companies is not a solicitation or offer to invest in a particular security or type of security. ZacksTrade does not endorse or adopt any particular investment strategy, any analyst opinion/rating/report or any approach to evaluating individual securities.

If you wish to go to ZacksTrade, click OK. If you do not, click Cancel.

DuPont Closes Coatings Biz Sale

You have chosen to follow this author. You will receive an email notification when this author publishes a new article. Click submit to continue.

You are alredy following the Author

The Author could not be added at this time, please try again later. If problem persists, please contact Zacks Customer support.

Please Login

DuPont (DD - Analyst Report) has completed the earlier announced divestiture of its performance coatings business to private equity firm Carlyle Group for $4.9 billion in cash. The company, in Aug 2012, announced its plans to divest the unit which supplies vehicle and industrial coating systems.

The sale will allow DuPont to better focus on accretive businesses like agriculture and nutrition, bio-based industrials and advanced materials. Beginning with third-quarter 2012 results, the performance coatings unit has been classified as discontinued operations and is excluded from the company's continuing operations results, on a retroactive basis.

DuPont plans to utilize a part of the proceeds from the sale to repurchase shares worth $1 billion during first-half 2013. Moreover, it expects to use the remaining portion of the proceeds to reinforce its balance sheet, which will enable it to invest in selective growth opportunities.

DuPont also noted that it will continue to serve the automotive industry and expects to generate over $3 billion in revenues from advanced materials sold to the auto industry annually.

DuPont, on Jan 22, posted adjusted earnings from continuing operations (excluding the performance coatings business) of 11 cents per share for fourth-quarter 2012, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a couple of cents. Net sales were essentially flat year over year at $7,325 million but exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $7,253 million.

DuPont is witnessing strength in its agriculture and food businesses. Moreover, it should continue to benefit from the synergies of Danisco acquisition. However, the company is exposed to weakness across titanium dioxide and photovoltaic markets, raw material cost inflation and currency headwinds.

Top Zacks Features

Is it Time to Sell?

One of the most important steps you can take today is to set up your portfolio tracker on Zacks.com. Once you do, you'll be notified of major events affecting your stocks and/or funds with daily email alerts.

Zacks Research is Reported On:

At the center of everything we do is a strong commitment to independent research and sharing its profitable discoveries with investors. This dedication to giving investors a trading advantage led to the creation of our proven Zacks Rank stock-rating system. Since 1986 it has nearly tripled the S&P 500 with an average gain of +26% per year. These returns cover a period from 1986-2011 and were examined and attested by Baker Tilly, an independent accounting firm.

Visit performance for information about the performance numbers displayed above.